The numbers on this clock are in Hebrew.Hebrew is spoken by over seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world.

The clock kept time in the Ladies' Gallery of the Croydon and District Synagogue on Elmwood Road.It was presented in memory of Chaya Martha Bloomstein.

Jonathan Stone

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Jonathan Stone

Jonathan is Jewish. He describes his bar-mitzvah ceremony:

"It's something that I think every boy looks forward to with a mixture of enjoyment and trepidation. Part of the Sabbath service is the reading from the scrolls, from the five books of Moses, and every boy has a particular passage that is their bar-mitzvah that they have to read. In fact, it's worse than reading - you actually have to sing it."

"In the middle of the synagogue was a reading section called the bimah, and I remember walking up. Thankfully, I wasn't particularly tall - there were lots of people all around me and I was quite pleased with that because I thought if I could actually see all of those people I'd just bottle out. But you never do and I did my bit. I suppose I was about 80% of the way through and I can remember to this day this feeling of suddenly wishing I could go back and do it all again."

Jewish worship in Croydon

Jonathan Stone's family moved from Tulse Hill to Croydon in 1961.Croydon's orthodox Jewish community grewas people moved out from central London.A new synagogue was built for them in 1964.

Croydon and District Synagogue was a place of worship and celebration.Jonathan had his bar-mitzvah there when he was 13. The ceremony marked his entry into the Jewish community as a fully responsible adult.

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